Broken spokes on Easton Haven Carbon & Alloy wheels

I've had my Haven Carbon wheels for about three months and until recently they've had a relatively easy life; my local riding is rooty steep and loamy but there's not much in the way of rocks.

Then I went to the Alps, specifically to Verbier (which incidentally is THE best riding I've ever encountered. Blows other Alpine locations clean out of the water).

My rear wheel lasted all of four hours.

Bear in mind I was running an 'all mountain' bike, not a DH bike and I the trails I was riding were just that, 'trails' not DH courses. They were pretty rough but nothing you wouldn't expect the wheels to cope with (oh and I was running dual ply tyres).

So I'm curious to know who else has had spoke breaking problems with their Easton wheels, what kind of conditions this happened in and, perhaps significantly, how much you weigh (I'm 100kg/210lbs).

Have you broken?
- one spoke
- a few spokes in one incident
- a few spokes over a number incidents

I ask because this is the first mention I've heard of a broken spoke on a Haven wheel. There are a lot of variables in mountain biking. It doesn't take much for the wrong stick or rock to flick up at the wrong time. Maybe you were just unlucky? If spokes are repeatedly popping without damage from trail debris then you've got an issue and the rest of my post will probably be a little out of line...sorry.

When I read your post it sounds like you are suggesting a fault with the wheels that they are consistantly breaking spokes. If this were the case I'd have thought this board would have seen much more mention of it, like the initial rear hub problems did.

I may sound a little defensive. I have them, with the original rear hub that did have issues that is now solved. I now happily say they're the best wheels I've ever used. If anything Easton are known for their high quality wheel build. I haven't had to touch a spoke on mine and they remain straight and correctly dished at a high and even tension. They have great specs on paper, which has resulted in a lot of sales. The first generation rear hub issue arose and they copped a lot flack for it. It seems now people want to can them for anything.

I broke two spokes in quick succession on the same ride so I guess the second went because of the first. This was not down to rock damage as the spoke snapped inside the nipple i.e. It pulled out of the housing.

I'm genuinely hoping this is a one off and I'm not suggestion at this point that there is any fault with the wheels. My concern is that if this happens again then it's probably reasonable to conclude that there ought to be a weight limit on them. I'm sure 95% of people riding them will be between 60kg and 95kg. That's would be a reasonable assumption for Easton to make and on the basis of that being true I imagine 95%of people won't have any problems and the wheels can be described as fit for purpose.

None of which helps me if indeed they didnt design them with people like me in mind.

I really do hope this is a one off as otherwise they are the best wheels I've ever used. My post was more to see if anyone else had had this problem. As a point of interest the bike shop dealing with the problem also have another Haven wheel with several broken spokes that they are dealing with, also owned by a heavy rider.

My observations... Heavy riders need to step up and use "downhill" rated or All Mountain rated wheelsets. I had the same problems as you, I weigh 230 pounds. That wheel set was most likely designed with XC racers in mind, not folks that run dual ply tires and do lift assisted rides.

Bottom line, if you have a fat ass, you have to add mass to your wheel sets, and stay away from proprietary builds, use conventional J spokes instead.

RandyBoy, the Havens definitely are rated as an ALL MOUTAIN wheelset. Easton are so confident in the strength of the CARBON version that they have a no questions asked replacement warranty if you break a rim.

That said maybe the 24 spoke wheelbuilt isn't enough for those guys >100kg using them for more aggressive riding. Geetee, let's hope it's a one off. If not maybe they make their way to ebay and you build some 32 spoke ENVE carbon wheels?

easton haven/ea90 xc29 nipples

This is definitely a defective wheelset. This had nothing to do with your riding. Usually when spokes break at the nip, it is a sign of a defective spoke. If it were breaking at the J bend, I would say check the tension.
But in this case, I would say file for a warranty.

The problem with all easton wheels is that they pull the spokes so tight, they have a tendency to "ping" break apart. They tighten the spokes much more than any other wheel set I know of. This is not the first time I have heard this, but this is why they can have these really light weight wheels sets with the 24 spoke and still retain stiffness. The carbon rims are fantastic, but 24 hole spokes for AM use is just not enough IMHO.

I had the same issue on my Haven Carbon wheels, broke two spokes below the nipple. Be aware that due to the spoke tension that Easton uses you need to send the wheel back to Easton or detension the ENTIRE wheel and then retension it.

Since sending it back to Easton I have multiple days at Mammoth with up to 10' drops, 4 days in Downieville shuttling and another 500 miles of hard and fast chunk without issue. Knock on wood!

I had a ton of broken Spoke problems on my EastonEA90SLX road wheel set. Easton even replaced the entire wheel set, and I kept breaking them. They have no weight limit, and I am 190 btw. I came to the conclusion that they were junk. Sold them at a huge loss, and went with Mavic. No problems since.